Historic Maps Exhibit

View the exhibit on display in the tunnel connecting the Concourse to the New York State Capitol.

What is this exhibit?

This exhibit features highlights of the historic
map collection maintained by the New York
State Office of General Services Bureau of
Land Management. The collection includes
approximately 800 maps that date from the
1600s to the late 1800s and tell the story of how
New York State-owned lands were developed
over the course of those three centuries.

Highlights

This plan put in place the rectangular grid of streets and lots that is iconic of New York
City today. This map is one of the few known originals in existence and has been called the single most important
document in New York City’s development.

Maps have been produced throughout human history using almost any available material. Maps have been found painted
on the walls of Neolithic caves and on pieces of wood and bone unearthed at archaeological sites.